The Hills Are Alive with the Sounds of Mucus

---

Give Us Money or We'll Talk

Salzburg's Burning

Getting Outta Salzburg

---

It was another night of hacking and wheezing on my part. I'm fine all day but as soon as I lay down I start coughing. It must be the down or feathers in the comforters. I still got adequate rest but I'm not so sure my mother was getting much of a vacation out of this.

I was up at the usual 7 am hour. In this room we were living a much more spartan existence. No TV, no clock, no phone, a tiny bathroom with just a shower and a toilet that stood less than a foot from the shower itself. The sink was in the main room. My mother had to deal with my shaving and tooth brushing before I headed into the shower. Changing in and out of clothes in that bathroom required the skills of a contortionist. My mom said it reminded her of a cruise ship. The cruise ships I've been on had bigger bathrooms than this.

I'm not complaining. The shower was hot and the flow strong. It was very clean and warm. It got the job done. Because the bathroom walls were so thin and because I didn't think she'd enjoy trying to change in that confined space, I left for Gail's room to give her some privacy.

They were already up. Gail's mother's cold/bronchitis had been so bad that night that she slept sitting upright on the sofa in their bigger room. She too said she felt rested despite her ordeal. In a few minutes my mother was ready and we went down the two flights of steps to breakfast.

As good as Frühstück had been at Dedlerhaus. this was even better. In addition to all the meats, cheese, fruits, cereals, juices and jellies, this buffet had a bigger variety of breads and rolls plus tomato. I put together a Subway-sized hoagie for my breakfast. As soon as I dug in, Christian, the innkeeper, walked in and aplogized for not greeting us the night before. He hoped we had no problems with the rooms and finding our way around. Then he asked whether we wanted coffee, tea or hot chocolate. After filling our orders he came back and had a nice long conversation with us. In near perfect English. He asked what we had done the day before and our plans for the coming day. He offered a couple of suggestions, lent some advice on the best order of doing those things and gave us special cards entitling us to free bus service, parking and admission discounts. He told us that the electric boats weren't operating on the Konigsee because it had frozen over. That took one two hour activity off the to-do list for the day.

He informed us that the other guests in the room were members of the Slovakian luge team. Konigsee was hosting the Junior World Championships. The kids looked no older than the junior high kids Gail takes on her summer student tours. They didn't look like future Olympic athletes. The night before I had heard a bit of a commotion one floor down from us, but it lasted only 5 minutes. I never heard them make another sound. Behave or you're off the team I bet.

---

Photos

Good Morning from Gail's and Phoebe's Room
As you can see this day was nowhere near as magnificent as the previous. In fact, this was pretty much German Winter at its worst - the way we were used to seeing it. The Alps disappeared.

A Simple but Clean and Comfortable Place to Sleep
I booked all three places we stayed using Booking.com. I was able to filter the available accommodations based on price and customer ratings. Pension Gregory was affordable and well reviewed. I have to agree. And Christian Fuchslechner, the proprietor, was an extremely gracious host. We wouldn't hesitate to return. We said the same about another place we stayed at in Schonau, Gaestehaus Stöckl, back in 2006. I have since tried to book rooms there three times and they've been full each time. Either my TripAdvisor review was so glowing that I drummed up too much business for them or they decided they lost far too much money when the Lunds hit the breakfast buffet.

She's Still Here and Undamaged
I was a little concerned parking in the pension lot when we got back last night. The lot was full and a big mini-bus (contradiction in terms) was parked next to us, but after surveying every inch of the car, we were good to go.

Not the Right Time to Visit a Lakeside Tourist Spot
Those passes that Christian had given us offering discounts on parking were quite unnecessary when we pulled into the one and a half street town of Konigsee. In the Summer the parking lot is jammed and there is even a satellite lot with shuttle bus service. Today there was just us in our clown car and maybe a dozen skiiers cars in the immense lot. Instead of parking there I drove behind the shops on Main Street (Seestrasse) and parked for free. Here we were in another deserted town.

We're On That Team Too
Although the town was deserted there were a fair number of cars parked behind some of the shops. This Beemer sports the logo for the German Bobsled and Luge teams. It seems they are major sponsors of both the team and the junior championships being held on the other side of town.

Those Aren't Car Garages
They are garages for boats. The boathouses along the Konigsee were iced-in just like the entire lake itself. There was absolutely nothing going on here today. Even the ducks weren't in their usual begging area right below this dock.

Konigsee Boathouses
Only electric boats are allowed on the tranquil Konigsee. They are kept in these long wooden buildings to protect them from the many feet of snow that falls every year in the shadow of the Alps.

The Konigsee Bobsled Track
On the other side of the lake my telephoto was able to get this glimpse of the site of the World Junior sliding championships. Yesterday had been the luge runs and today would be skeletons. In either case, the participants were nuts. At least a bobsled has some protection. Those other two sleds were much more extreme. Forty years ago I probably would've done it if given a chance. Today I'd be afraid to even watch.

Proud Sponsors
The BMW logo was everywhere, but why are their signs in English? Americans don't televise any winter sports anymore, except maybe during the Winter Olympics. We could see a few early risers heading into the track to get good seats before the competition began. The ambulances weren't there yet so we knew it hadn't started.

They Start 'em Young Here in Germany
Nothing like a Kinder/Bier-garten.

We Found the Ducks
We started to walk along the lakefront from the docks past the big hotel. Surprisingly it was closed for the Winter. During our Christmas Holidays visits it had always been open and a good spot to go warm-up and use the bathrooms. It was really nasty cold beside the lake. We didn't walk very far past this the last of the boathouses before turning around.

If Only They Had Been Open
We got off the waterfront and began to walk up the shopping street. In the past this area always had a few open shops even on Christmas and Boxing Day. This Sunday morning the only business that looked like they were open was the store with these birdfeeders and houses outside. But even they were closed. These wooden creations were all chained together and to the building. I would've considered buying one of them with its stand and having it shipped home. They were very nicely constructed and good looking. I would've been proud to have one of our American birds move in.

An Oldie But Goodie Gets an Update
I remember seeing this coin-operated machine back in the 80's when we first started visiting the area. When we started bringing Cassie and Tyler as little kids they loved this hokey tourist ripoff. When you drop in a coin the two woodsmen start sawing the log until a circular disk falls out and slides down the chute toward you. You then use the nearby inkpad and stamp to validate your visit to the Konigsee. We have two or three of these pieces of wood laying around the house. The woodsmen have new duds since the last time we saw them, But they show their age in the faces - they seem to have contracted leprosy. Like everything else in town this day, the machine was shutdown.

Wow! A Blast from the Past
First time I've seen an outdoor ciggie machine in decades. And they're cheaper here than back in the States where they're made.

The High Tech Alternative
A little further up the road Gail found this smaller and more modern version of the wood disk souvenir maker. It looked like this one might work.

This Warrants Another Gander
But of course it's closed. This was the old railroad station converted now into a restaurant. Looks like a great place to sit outside on a warm summer night sipping Hefeweizens.

Privileged Parking for BMW Drivers
Since we were all alone in town I decided I'd be an arrogant jerk and drive onto the pedestrians only road to pick up the girls before they got too involved in window shopping. I was itchin' to get to the Obersalzberg.

Only Halfway Up the Mountain
To get here from Konigsee we had to ascend a thrilling, spiraling, seemingly vertical road up from the valley to the mid-point of the Obersalzberg mountain. This was the area where all the Nazi bigshots maintained summer homes clustered around Adolf Hitler's Bergdorf house. All those buildings were destroyed after the War to prevent them from becoming shrines for Neo-Nazis. The most famous structure still stands at the very top of the mountain- the Kehlsteinhaus, also known as "The Eagle's Nest". This was a special getaway spot built for Hitler, but rarely used. In the Summer when the snows are gone a special bus takes tourists to the building. We've never been there. Someday.

Trying to Find The Dokumentaion Obersalzberg
The one thing I most wanted to accomplish on our mini-vacation was to see something we had never done before. On all our previous visits to Berchtesgaden we always took a ride up to the Obersalzberg to see the old Nazi complex. Where the Skytop Hotel (a US military recreation hotel) once stood, this new museum documenting the history of the Nazis in Berchtesgaden has opened.

I'm Not So Sure About This Place
When we found the entrance to the Documentation Center, we were the first inside. Thanks to Christian's special passes we got a good discount on our entrance. Special headsets gave us an excellent and interesting English tour. But even though the Germans have tried very hard not to depict Hitler as a hero and to obliterate all traces of Nazism, including banning swastikas, this center could hold appeal to some wackos bent on following in Hitler's footsteps. The first thing you see as you enter is this poster. Pictures of the atrocities committed take second place on the borders of this rallying cry for German ascendism.

The Top Floor of the Center is What Disturbed Me
As you pass that big poster the tour takes you up a flight of stairs to a balcony area. Memorabilia from the Nazi period in Salzburg is on display. Pictures and newspapers from the era depict Hitler and his cronies as family guys having a great old time partying up in the mountains with Mother Nature. In this photo are souvenir plates that a 1930 something gift shop in the area used to sell to Nazi groupies visiting Berchtesgaden.